Last Summer (July 19), the Toronto Globe and Mail featured a sociological look into women who had abortions. Titled, "The hidden abortion issue," it explored why, though abortion has been unrestricted in Canada for two decades, so few women who have undergone abortions ever talk about it, even with close friends. Journalist Cate Cochran did not provide any answers to the question [...]
The Humanae Vitae conference, which took place Nov. 15 at St. Michael's College in Toronto, attracting an overflow crowd and was a great success, according to organizers and participants. The conference was organized to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), which reaffirmed Catholic church teaching against contraception in the wake of the advent of [...]
Editor's Note: In preparation for the the Nov. 9 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, Interim editor Paul Tuns interviewed Glenn M. Penner, executive director of The Voice of the Martyrs. The Interim: What is Voice of the Martyrs. When and why was it started? Glenn Penner: The Voice of the Martyrs is a Canadian Christian ministry committed to glorifying [...]
A leading Canadian academic, Olympic athlete, businessman, poet and author, having composed books including The Trouble With Canada, The War Against the Family and Constitutional Crack-Up, William Gairdner was also managing editor of a landmark historical book, Canada?s Founding Debates. As a track and field athlete, he represented Canada in the men's 400-metre hurdles and the men's decathlon at the 1964 Summer [...]
U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s loving and highly-publicized acceptance of her Down’s syndrome child Trig has at least one prominent Canadian doctor worried that her example may lead to mothers shunning abortion after diagnosis of Down’s syndrome. According to the Globe and Mail, Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, is worried that Palin’s decision to [...]
Sometimes we in the media merely play a game. Making little ripples at the side of the water rather than diving right in to make an almighty splash. In other words, we run around the edge of various problems and debates but are afraid to shine light on the authentic dilemmas of our age. Whether it’s politics, economics, culture or [...]
What is education for? The development of character? Or the acquisition of a marketable skill? These are not new questions. In “Against the Sophists,” the ancient Greek philosopher Isocrates argued that character should be king in education. Isocrates believed that education is primarily about the development of the learner’s character. Isocrates did not oppose the development of technical skill. But he argued [...]
A recent large-scale religious event in Quebec City has raised hopes of revival not only in the spiritual realm, but in that of the state of human life and the family as well. The 49th International Eucharistic Congress attracted tens of thousands of people to a city also celebrating its 400th anniversary and that, until recent decades, was steeped in the Roman [...]
The July 1 announcement by the governor-general that Henry Morgentaler is being named a member of the Order of Canada led to an unprecedented debate over the usually ignored award. Newspapers were full of opinion pieces and letters to the editor, talk radio debates were ignited and at least nine OC members returned their medals in protest, exposing Morgentaler as the most [...]
A popular advocate, lecturer and teacher in the areas of family and human life issues laid out a blueprint for the way forward in the struggle to protect human life and the family during the Catholic Civil Rights League’s Spring Dinner in Toronto June 10. Father Tom Lynch has an extensive resume in order to be able to speak on the topic. [...]
After weeks of speculation that Red China would relax its one-child policy, the National Population and Family Planning Commission said it would not make any changes in the country’s population-control policy for at least a decade. Beijing has faced criticism from pro-life groups over its one-child policy, because officials have often resorted to coerced abortions, sterilizations and, occasionally, infanticide to enforce the [...]
The Senate passed Bill C-2, the Tackling Violent Crime Act, an omnibus crime bill that included a provision for raising Canada’s age of sexual consent from 14 to 16. At 14, Canada had one of the lowest ages of consent for sexual activity, but is now in line with most of the Western world, where ages of consent typically range from 16 to [...]
Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, in a statement released on March 14 urged that women should not be allowed to have abortions until they are counseled on the procedure’s risks to their mental health. The College recommended adding details about the risks of depression to abortion leaflets. “Consent cannot be informed,” it claimed, “without the provision of adequate and appropriate information.” More [...]
Sweet Smell of Roses At urbandictionary.com, the definitions of “pro-life” include the following: “An idealistic position acknowledging that from a scientific point of view, human life begins at conception and thus, human rights should extend to the unborn. Because this (conviction) also assumes personal responsibility, it is widely despised.” We aren’t told who is allegedly shirking responsibility; the poster is probably referring [...]
Long-held code of silence broken to mark Supreme Court decision In the past two months, there have been a number of pro-life articles appearing in national and local newspapers, particularly the National Post. Generally no friend to the pro-life movement, the media have generally skirted the issue. Last spring, the National Post ran a gingerly worded article called, “The A-word” that touched on the [...]